Tag: studio
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Microsoft’s gaming layoffs include 86 jobs at Skylanders studio Toys for Bob
Microsoft’s post-acquisition layoffs at Activision Blizzard have already caught the FTC’s eye. Now we know more about which subsidiary studios will take the hit. First reported by the San Francisco Chronicle (via Eurogamer), California WARN notices list 86 upcoming scheduled layoffs at Skylanders maker Toys for Bob and 76 cuts at Call of Duty: Vanguard developer Sledgehammer Games.
California requires companies to notify the state of upcoming layoffs, thanks to a 1988 law mandating 60 days’ notice about staffing cuts (if they reach specific thresholds). The latest WARN alerts for Activision Blizzard report 86 upcoming cuts at an address in Novato, CA — matching Toys for Bob’s offices — effective March 30. In addition, the San Francisco Chronicle reports on a California state filing indicating Toys for Bob’s offices will close.
Toys for Bob is known for spearheading the “toys-to-life” concept, which Nintendo later embraced with its Amiibos. The Activision Blizzard subsidiary’s most successful projects include the Spyro the Dragon series, Skylanders and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. The Gamer reported in late January that Toys for Bob would cut 40 percent of its staff, which would have only been around 35 jobs.
In addition, another 76 Activision Blizzard employees will lose their jobs (also on March 30) at an address in San Mateo, CA, matching the headquarters of Sledgehammer Games. The studio has developed or contributed to several Call of Duty games, including CoD: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), CoD: Advanced Warfare (2014), CoD: WWII (2017) and CoD: Vanguard (2021). The studio was founded in 2009. Insider Gaming reported in January that Sledgehammer Games would close its offices and go fully remote.
In late January, Microsoft said it would slash 1,900 jobs across its Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax (Bethesda) teams. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint in a federal appeals court on Wednesday, arguing that the substantial round of layoffs “contradicts Microsoft’s representations in this proceeding.” The government agency asked for a temporary pause of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, which appeared all but locked up after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority approved the $69 billion purchase in October.
An estimated 10,500 gaming industry workers fell victim to layoffs in 2023. We’ve already seen 6,000 more in 2024, only slightly over a month into the new year. It’s been part of a devastating year-plus of broader tech-industry layoffs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-gaming-layoffs-include-86-jobs-at-skylanders-studio-toys-for-bob-182241293.html?src=rss
FromSoftware’s parent company has acquired Acquire, the studio behind Octopath Traveler
Octopath Traveler developer Acquire has been purchased by FromSoftware’s parent company, the Kadokawa Corporation, for an undisclosed sum. The Japanese conglomerate announced the acquisition in a quarterly earnings report published today, as revealed by Gamesindustry.biz.
The purchase makes Acquire a sister company to FromSoftware and Spike Chunsoft, among others. For the uninitiated, FromSoftware is the developer behind little known games like Dark Souls, Elden Ring and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Spike Chunsoft is also no slouch, as it’s behind the Danganronpa and AI: The Somnium Files franchises.
Acquire has made many games beyond Octopath Traveler and its sequel, including No Heroes Allowed VR, Akiba’s Beat and Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed. Kadokawa said the purchase should help the company “generate synergies” with its “existing game-related subsidiaries.” We don’t know what that means, but hopefully it refers to a bizarre Octopath Traveler and Elden Ring crossover title.
Kadokawa also says the move will enhance its “line-up of console games.” This is true, as the original Octopath Traveler sold over three million copies and the sequel sold a million copies in just three months. Those are big numbers for JRPGs with old-school mechanics. The company hasn’t announced whether it’ll still rely on Square Enix for publishing future entries in the Octopath franchise, but with those sales numbers it’s a fairly safe bet.
Last year’s Octopath Traveler 2 arrived to mostly positive reviews, though we dinged it for the same reason many people took umbrage with the original. The eight storylines don’t intersect enough, making the whole thing seem kind of random and disconnected. Still, the games are gorgeous and manage to capitalize on nostalgia for retro gameplay mechanics. They “feel” like classic Square Enix RPGs, even if they struggle with some of the execution.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fromsoftwares-parent-company-has-acquired-acquire-the-studio-behind-octopath-traveler-175648777.html?src=rss
Toys for Bob Future Unclear Amid Studio Closure and Layoffs
This year’s Call of Duty may be more Far Cry than CoD, and next year’s game has no lead studio – report
You know last year’s Call of Duty didn’t do numbers when you start hearing rumours about this year’s entry so early in the year. Modern Warfare 3 was poorly received by critics and many casual players, and it broke Call of Duty’s best-selling streak in North America.
Call of Duty 2024 looks to be set to turn things around, but not in the way you may have expected. As for next year’s game, well, that’s a whole other story.
Hawkwind announce new studio album, Stories From Time And Space
It’s their 36th studio album
The post Hawkwind announce new studio album, Stories From Time And Space appeared first on UNCUT.
Take-Two’s Coming Year Includes 16 Games, Including a ‘New IP’ From a ‘Premier Studio’
Beats Studio Buds + Deliver Improved Performance and a Transparent Design Option for $169.99
Priced at $169.99, a $20 increase over the original model, the Beats Studio Buds + deliver improvements to fit, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Transparency mode, microphones, battery life, and more.
The most immediately obvious change for the Beats Studio Buds + is the overall look, with the new Transparent color option being the standout alongside a Black option with Gold accents and an Ivory option. The Transparent design is reminiscent of what Nothing has been doing with its phones and earphones, although the specific look is rather different. While Nothing has gone with a completely transparent outer surface for portions of its devices, Beats’ transparency isn’t quite as clear but includes essentially every part of the exterior of the buds, case, and even the eartips.
Beyond the new colors, the Studio Buds + look essentially identical to the original Studio Buds, but Beats says 95% of the internal parts are brand-new including 3x larger microphones for improved sound capture and a brand-new venting and mic port design. As with the previous model, the Studio Buds + include IPX4 sweat and water resistance to stand up to workouts and weather.
When it comes to fit, Studio Buds + offer improvements there as well with a new extra-small eartip option joining the existing small, medium, and large sizes to fit a wider range of ears with a better seal.
The multi-function “b” button on each earbud has been redesigned to reduce accidental presses and offer a firmer feel. The button continues to offer standard media controls where a single press handles play/pause, a double press skips forward, and a triple press skips backward.
A press-and-hold function allows you to toggle between ANC and Transparency mode, but it can also be configured to activate a voice assistant or adjust volume up and down. Call handling functionality can also be customized to require either one or two presses to end a call.
Aside from ANC and Transparency, Beats Studio Buds + also support Spatial Audio content on Apple Music, although they do not include the immersive head-tracking functionality found on the Beats Fit Pro and several AirPods models.
Rather than using Apple’s H1 or H2 chip, the Beats Studio Buds + use a custom second-generation “Beats Proprietary Platform” that offers many of the same features as Apple’s chips such as “Hey Siri” and Find My support, automatic device switching via iCloud and more, while also offering similar features on Android such as Find My Device, one-touch pairing, and automatic pairing to all devices linked to the same Google account.
With a revised vent design and ANC processing now housed on the primary chipset, the Studio Buds + have up to 1.6x better ANC than the previous model and up to 2x better Transparency performance. The buds also include playback correction, which attempts to remove residual acoustic artifacts that can be introduced by ANC or Transparency processing. A feedback microphone and secondary filter analyze the audio data at up to 50,000 times per second to ensure playback accuracy.
Additional improvements to voice performance focus on noise suppression and voice targeting to make sure speech is as intelligible as possible, while the larger microphones deliver a higher signal-to-noise ratio with greater sensitivity. Machine learning was used to train the system in a variety of noisy environments for optimal voice capture.
Battery life sees a significant boost in the Studio Buds +, with the earbuds providing up to 9 hours of battery life with ANC and Transparency turned off and the case providing an additional 27 hours for a total of 36 hours of battery life, a 50% increase compared to the original Studio Buds. With ANC or Transparency turned on, you’ll get 6 hours out of the buds on a single charge, with an additional 18 hours available from the charging case.
As with the original Studio Buds, the case for the new model charges via USB-C and does not support wireless charging, and a tiny USB-C to USB-C cable is included. A full charge of the case and buds takes two hours, but a 5-minute Fast Fuel feature delivers up to an hour of battery life when you’re running low.
All three colors of the Beats Studio Buds + are priced at $169.99 and are available to order starting today at apple.com in the United States, Canada, and China, with shipping beginning tomorrow. Releases in other countries will follow over the next few months.
This article, “Beats Studio Buds + Deliver Improved Performance and a Transparent Design Option for $169.99” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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